$19.9 B

Age:

76

Fifty years after first selling running shoes out of the trunk of his car, Phil Knight is now peddling sportswear in nearly every country on the planet, racking up record revenues and profits. Its U.S. market, often questioned as a growth opportunity, increased revenues by double digits for the fourth straight year. The son of a newspaper publisher, Knight insists it hasn't always been easy for him. "For me, an extrovert was a person who stared at other people's shoes," he said in a 2014 commencement address. Being an introvert didn't deter him. After graduating from Stanford Business School in 1962, the onetime track star decided to travel the world and talked his way into meetings with Japanese shoe suppliers. Back home, he and his old track coach each put up $500 to start Blue Ribbon Sports. Knight changed the name to Nike in 1978, after the Greek goddess of victory. [...] more